A Sunny Place No Longer
by earthrise
Summary: Konoha isn't quite as sunny anymore. This is what happens when a clan goes too far. CHAPTER 1 REVISED
1. A Dark and Stormy Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I never will.

A Sunny Place No Longer

Chapter 1: A Dark and Stormy Night

Hiashi Hyuuga looked coldly on as his oldest daughter Hinata sparred with the current clan prodigy in a small room within the Hyuuga compound. A small tic could be seen at the corner of his eye as he fumed over his eldest daughter's weakness. _Why can't she see that this is what is necessary? No matter, she tried to leave the compound after our talk. That alone shows exactly where her loyalties are._

Neji was moving like a well-practiced dancer, deceptively gentle moves taking on tremendous stopping power with the chakra that was ejected on each hit.

Hinata was gasping for breath, dodging attacks by only the barest of margins. _I have to keep going! I have to be like Naruto-kun!_

*FLASH*

Naruto gave a howl of glee as he dashed across the marketplace, splashing through the mud puddles running from the pursuing herd of Chuunin. The look on his face said it all- he was good enough to avoid them, and he knew it. As he vanished from sight, a sunbeam tore through the clouds, and Hinata smiled.

*FLASH*

Hinata tripped on some invisible crack on the floor, and Neji pressed his advantage.

*FLASH*

Naruto stood on top of the Hokage monument in the pouring rain, shouting to all of Konoha that he would one day be the Hokage. He turned to Hinata and gave her a thumbs up as she peered out from her hiding place in the bushes.

*FLASH*

Neji jumped into the air to bring his full weight to bear on her, but as he crashed down she rolled out of the way and attempted to sweep his feet out from under him.

*FLASH*

Lightning lit up the sky on the anniversary of the Kyuubi's death. A crowd chased Naruto through the streets as he bled from the kunai stuck in his calf.

*FLASH*

Hinata rolled backwards into an open stance. The two fighters circled each other warily—the leg sweep had caught Neji off guard.

In the background, watching the spectacle was Hinata's younger sister Hanabi.

Hanabi could see that her sister still wasn't even up to her level, let alone Neji. Although she also wore the nigh-cliched Hyuuga poker face, she couldn't help but feel concern for her sister. _There's something wrong here, something different. What is father up to?_

Hanabi turned to her father and spoke in a clear monotone.

"Father, what purpose does this match serve? Hinata cannot hope to win or even learn from this match. She is clearly outclassed."

Hiashi was silent as he ignored Hanabi in favor of watching the battle.

Neji took two quick steps forward and launched a spinning kick towards his cousin. Hinata easily moved out of the way, but he managed to close the chakra node controlling her left arm.

*FLASH*

"Are you my friend, Hinata?"

A dense fog covered the village of Konoha, mist slowly falling to the ground, soaking everything. Hinata steepled her hands, blushed, and nodded.

*FLASH*

Hinata jumped back, but her left arm was now useless. Bruises began to appear elsewhere where she had blocked a few of the crippling attacks.

Hinata ducked a lightning fast strike to her temple but fell backwards as the following double scissor strike closed off the chakra nodes in both her legs.

*FLASH*

"With me as Hokage and you as clan head, we can get rid of the caged bird seal together!" Thunder rolled in the distance, and hail pounded on the roof.

*FLASH*

Neji advanced slowly, glancing at Hiashi as Hinata tried to scrabble backwards, clawing at the floor with her only functioning arm.

Hiashi gave a single nod.

"Finish it."

*FLASH*

Smoke was heavy in the air, and a stinging rain fell to the ground around the two young children.

"Why does your cousin hate you Hinata?"

*FLASH*

Hanabi could only stare in horror as Neji's hand blurred towards her sister's chest. As it struck, Hinata's expression of fear turned to surprise and then regret.

*FLASH*

"The Hokage is holding us back Hinata. With the Uchiha gone we are the rightful heirs of Konoha."

*FLASH*

Hinata looked her sister in the eyes as the light slowly faded from her own

"Na …ru …to…" _I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough..._

With that last breath, Hinata Hyuuga was no more.

Hiashi's eyebrows quirked briefly, but he remained otherwise expressionless.

Hanabi's eyes widened even more. _Oh Kami-sama, Hinata-chan is dead!_

"Inform the Hokage tomorrow that Hinata has unfortunately perished in a training accident," Hiashi ordered Neji.

"Hai."

With a curt bow, Neji left the room.

A feminine voice cut through the air, startling Hanabi.

"I am to be the heiress then?" It said coldly. Hanabi mentally shuddered at the tone before realizing it was her own.

_Oh Kami-sama, Hinata-chan, Hinata-chan!_

"Hai. Return to your room. I will have a branch member clean up the trash."

Hanabi 's shock quickly gave way to anger at the statement.

_Is it not enough that you had her killed, you bastard, but now you have to insult her corpse?_

Hiashi Hyuuga paused for a moment, and stared at Hanabi's carefully blank face before speaking once more.

"You will make a fine heir. We will have our rightful place once more."

Wrestling down her anger, she nodded and quickly left, walking towards her room.

Hanabi had no intention of staying there. _Hinata said a name with her dying breath- Naruto. The boy everyone hates, but she admired. He deserves to know._

Hanabi slipped easily past the branch member guards and into the streets of Konoha where she broke out into a dead run. The rain poured down through the night's inky darkness, and it was only with the aid of her byakugan that she was able to find Naruto's small apartment.

Hanabi stood on the doorstep, soaked to the bone and shivering, and reached out her slender hand to knock.

Rat-tat-tat! The noise was loud but it was quickly drowned out by the steady pounding of the rain. Unable to stand her emotions any longer, she fell to her knees and wept bitterly. This was how Naruto found her on the step.

"Oh Hinata-chan!" Hinabi sobbed between unintelligible words.

Naruto stood there in shock for a moment before picking up the younger girl and bringing her inside.

With the door shut, the ceaseless roar of the wind was blocked, and the hiss of the rain was lessened.

Konoha's loudest ninja was silent for several minutes as he dried Hanabi with his last clean towels and set her on his couch.

Hanabi had stopped sobbing, but was still trembling. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. _What kind of person can't bring themselves to perform their sisters last request?_

"They killed her, didn't they, Hanabi-san?"

Hanabi looked up, exhausted, and gave a single nod.

"Hinata-chan told me all about the branch family, and how when she was clan head she would change things. We should have kept our mouths shut- this is a ninja village!"

After rising in a crescendo, his voice quickly quieted again as Hanabi flinched.

Naruto ceased his pacing and sat down next to her, letting her collapse onto him and nearly collapsing himself.

Through the wind and the rain a single beam of moonlight shone unhindered through the window, as if the moon herself was grieving with them.

"We need to go to the Hokage."

Naruto knew the way by heart, and the two of them dodged and darted through the streets and over rooftops to where the Sandaime would be even at this time of morning- his office.

Two drenched and exhausted children stood trembling before him.

The Sandaime frowned as he looked at them, and tapped a couple of seals on his desk. Danzo and his ilk had no clue about the delay he had set into their surveillance seals. They also thought he took a lot of naps and read dirty books while on the job. Misinformation can be such a wonderful weapon.

"What brings you here at this hour, Naruto-kun, Hanabi-chan?"

Naruto wanted to start crying and fling himself at his surrogate grandfather, but restrained himself.

"Hokage-s-sama," he stumbled, "Hyuuga-san and I are reporting the murder by p-proxy of Genin Hyuuga Hinata by Hyuuga Hiashi."

Sarutobi's heart broke a little inside. _Bastard. If I'd discovered the Uchiha incident a few minutes earlier he'd be dead._

"Your report is acknowledged genin, now stand down."

In a flash, the old man was across the room and holding Naruto and Hanabi in his strong arms.

The two of them clung to him like a life-preserver in a stormy sea, dry sobs escaping from them for several minutes afterward.

Naruto looked up at him with watery blue eyes filled with a single question.

"No Naruto, it wasn't your fault. Let me tell more about why I have been unable to help you as much as I should have through the years. There are two main factions who have been attempting to subvert control of Konoha, or failing that, to initiate a coup. One is my old rival, Danzo. Another is the Hyuuga Main House. I'm sorry Naruto, things have gotten nearly beyond my control. On top of this I suspect there are agents of other organizations that have been attempting to infiltrate us ever since you were born, and we can ill afford to show weakness."

He disentangled himself from the small arms and legs and walked over to his desk.

"The Chuunin exams are coming here again Naruto. I trust you know what that means."

Naruto stared at the Hokage with a hint of betrayal in his eyes, but that was quickly replaced with a forlorn look of sadness and understanding.

Sarutobi sighed again, and pricked his index finger. He smeared the blood in a pattern on the desk calendar, which then glowed slightly and absorbed the blood as if it had never been there.

At the Hyuuga compound, an identical light pulsed softly and went out.

"I believe you will find that the Hyuuga main house will be sleeping quite deeply tonight. It will be better for Konoha if they never woke up."

Hanabi's eyes widened in understanding.

"We're dead if this gets out and we're still in Konoha. Having us take care of it gives us a fighting chance," Hanabi whispered.

Naruto nodded at the old man.

"I've always wanted to be the Hokage you know. But being Hokage means doing what's right for Konoha first, and if I don't do that when I'm not the Hokage, who's to say that I ever will?"

Sarutobi knelt on the floor and embraced the two of them once again.

A few minutes passed by in silence as the young ninja steeled themselves for what was to come.

Naruto finally reach in a pocket, and tossed a kunai to Hanabi, who expertly caught it.

Meeting each others eyes, they spoke in unison.

"The Main House dies tonight."

Author's note:

This is the third version of the first chapter. Sorry about the wait- revisions of the others to come soon. Hope you like it!

~earthrise


	2. The Nightmare Begins

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and it's probably a good thing that I never will.

A Sunny Place No Longer

Chapter 2: The Nightmare Begins

* * *

Naruto opened a drawer, and tossed a Kunai to Hanabi, who expertly caught it.

Meeting each other's eyes, they spoke in unison.

"The Main House dies tonight."

There was a pause, and then Naruto spoke again.

"You may be a genius nearly on par with Neji, but I am not nearly up to that level in Taijutsu, even if I can spam hundreds of shadow clones. You know ninjutsu and genjutsu are out of the running too, since neither of us have the experience. There is no way we can hope to take on the Main House in honorable combat that I can think of."

"Then we will have to be dishonorable, Naruto-san." Hanabi smirked lightly at her comment. _They have no real honor anyway, it all died with oneesan._

Naruto smiled at her reply, but it had a slight green tinge to it. _Joking about the ones that we will kill tonight- I can't help but feel I'm standing on the edge of a cliff with Kyuubi behind me._

Naruto shoved some clutter off a broken desk and pulled a map of the Hyuuga compound, complete with the Hyuuga family crest, out of an airtight container.

Hanabi looked at him, her question apparent in her face. _Where on earth did Naruto get ahold of that?_

"Hinata-chan gave it to me when I told her I was planning on playing a prank on the Main House. I never got around to it though…" He paused, lost in memories before returning to the task at hand.

"Anyway, she and I drew out a plan to infiltrate the main house bedrooms on this map."

_I can't see anything on the map, but Naruto wouldn't joke about this._

And indeed he was not. During her short reflection, Naruto had grabbed the candle he kept for light, and held it just over the surface of the map, lines quickly developing into an inky black that rivaled the darkness outside.

"Whatever happened to the joker?" _Everyone knows how cold the Hyuuga are, but how are you able to act like this?_

"That is part of who I am, but I didn't survive attacks by villagers and the occasional shinobi as a child by being an idiot. I was on the streets for a year before Old Man Hokage was able to get me a stipend from the council. I asked him how he did it. He didn't say anything at first, just took me to the graveyard, and then left me there. When I visited the next day he remarked : 'The last council meeting was a fiasco. Fortunately there were just enough members there for a vote, despite a large number of elders attending a funeral… Naruto—this is the last time such fortune will occur.' "

Naruto took another deep breath, and continued.

"The day after that I asked him why. 'I care for you Naruto, but I did it for Konoha,' he said. Neither of us brought it up after that. Years later, I looked up the date, and it was a week before the last time Konoha hosted the Chuunin Exams."

Hanabi nodded in understanding. _A village that either can't take care of its academy students or enrolls street urchins will be seen as weak, and that could lead to war._

"You do realize that we can't kill Neji, right?"

Hanabi raged internally for a second, but nodded again. _Kuso! He's right. Revenge is one thing, but this way we will make Hinata-chan's dream come true and make Konoha a better place._

"If he gets in our way he dies. Painfully."

"Very well."

With that, they went over the plan quickly, and burned it.

* * *

Naruto and Hanabi approached the Hyuuga compound from the south. Unfortunately for Naruto and Hanabi, to the south of the Hyuuga compound was a wide open field where intruders could easily be spotted.

They were silent as they crawled through the sewage pipe that was almost too small for them to fit through. Carefully lifting up the hatch cover, they found themselves in the bathroom by the furo. The two of them quickly rinsed off in the showers, before Hanabi dried them off with a rather odd water jutsu. _How does Hanabi know this obscure jutsu when she doesn't even know a jutsu that can rinse us off?_

Hanabi activated her Byakugan to insure that they were alone. Unfortunately, they were not. A branch house member wielding a mop and bucket was slowly making his way towards the furo, grumbling all the way.

"Naruto!" She hissed. "We've got a janitor coming this way!"

"Hold on to me and whatever you do, don't let go."

With that, Naruto leapt up to the ceiling, sticking to it with the aid of chakra. As the janitor entered, they quickly slipped behind him, and dropped down silently. Naruto motioned for her to take point. They crept forward, out of the furo and into the garden. After avoiding two guards on patrol, they reached the hallway filled with the bedrooms of the main house members. They stopped in Hanabi's room to stock up on more weapons, a small amount of food and a two-person tent. Both of them were thinking the same thing. _Soon I will be a missing-nin. Probably a dead one._

They crept into the room across from Hanabi's, and the slaughter began. Swiftly, they drew their kunai across the throats of the sleeping ninja. In that first room Hanabi nearly vomited from the stench of the blood. Room after room they slipped into, quickly slitting throats before a single noise could be made, leaving only bodies and bloody footprints in their wake. _It should not be this easy to kill a clan, let alone my clan._

The fifth room was the most trouble they had so far. The old woman in it had baked cookies for Hanabi every year on her birthday. _But never for Hinata. _The woman opened her eyes just as she began the stroke with her kunai, and her white eyes were filled with betrayal. _I want to say something, to let them quiver and know that they are feeling our vengeance, but that would be a lie. We're just doing a horrible job that someone else should have done long ago in the memory of someone who shouldn't have died._

Their kunai were still dripping warm blood from the last Main House member. He had been an elder snoring loudly away in his bed, and the scene could have been almost comical if it weren't for the situation. They approached the final bedroom—the bedroom belonging to the clan head. Hanabi's father, Hiashi.

Slowly they inched toward the bed, the deadly cycle now almost familiar to them. And then everything went horribly wrong.

"So, the branch house has finally come for me. Wearing the guise of my own daughter and a demon no less. I don't know how you got past the fuinjutsu seals but you will pay for your impertinence with your lives!"

Naruto and Hanabi froze, but quickly recovered.

"Hai. You can kill one of us with the Caged bird seal, but you cannot get us both." Naruto snapped at the man with a bravado he didn't really feel. _There's no way that he'll fall for that taunt, even if he really thinks we're both branch house members._

Naruto jumped directly toward Hiashi while Hanabi tried to outflank him. Hiashi easily smacked them both out of the air. Fortunately, his split attention meant his strikes were unable to target their chakra nodes, and they bounced back up into taijutsu stances the moment they hit the ground.

Once again, they launched themselves. This time, Naruto jumped to the ceiling, throwing a hail of senbon at and behind Hiashi.

Hanabi struck at her father with the same scissor movement that had disabled her sister, but to no avail. Naruto jumped down again, hoping once again that they could double-team him. Unfortunately, the tactic met with an even worse fate this time as Hiashi knocked them both senseless.

Hiashi seemed like he had ignored Naruto's initial taunt. Fortunately for Naruto and Hanabi, this proved untrue. Hiashi's hands formed a seal as he shouted "Caged Bird: Divine Retribution!"

With that, a light tingle of chakra pulsed through the area, not affecting Naruto or Hanabi. The lack of any effect stunned Hiashi only briefly, but it was enough for Hanabi to complete a Juuken strike to her father's heart.

Hiashi looked at them in surprise, and then in a cold, defiant hatred as life fled from his body.

"What the hell was he trying to do? I know that wasn't the pain or the death seal."

"It must be a new jutsu applied to the caged bird seal to discipline multiple members at once."

"Whatever. Let's raid the scrolls and get out of here before the guards figure out something's wrong. You take point again, Hanabi."

She quickly activated her Byakugan, and they made their way to the compound walls. After a couple of minutes, she was starting to get very concerned. She should have been able to at least see one guard by now.

And then she fell flat on her face, with Naruto on top of her.

_What in Kami's name did I trip over?_

She looked underneath her to find the arm of a very dead branch house member. A few meters away lay another.

"Oh sweet Kami, no…"

Naruto stared at her, and then the body, comprehension dawning on his face.

Abandoning all pretense of stealth, they jumped up and ran to where the sun would be rising in a few hours.

"Kage Bunshin!" he shouted, and a single clone ran off toward the Hokage tower.

While they ran, Hanabi briefly turned towards him.

"I never thought I would be the last Hyuuga."

AN: As for the timeline, still not quite nailed down, but Naruto is a genin and the canon Chuunin exam has not occurred yet.

If you're wondering where the title comes from, according to some stuff I've read online Hinata Hyuuga can be interpreted as "a sunny place".

Thank you You Can Run But You Can't Hide, Karinfan123, Dejitaru Ryuu, and ageant for your reviews. I really appreciate them.

Adios.

~earthrise


	3. The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: Base case: I did not own Naruto when I started this story (Chapter 1). Let's assume that I do not own Naruto if the chapter is chapter(n-1). If I do not own naruto when the chapter is chapter(n-1), I will not own Naruto on the next chapter: chapter(n). By proof of mathematical induction, I will never own Naruto.

Important AN: Chapters 1 and 2 have been revised, please reread them!

A Sunny Place No Longer

The Calm Before the Storm

* * *

The two new missing-nins looked at each other. The sun had finally risen in the east, and they stopped for a much needed break on a small hilltop to watch the now blood red mist dissipate around them, leaving a small sunny glade.

"What now?" They asked in unison.

Neither of them had truly expected to be able to escape Konoha, but Hiashi's last act had given them just that chance.

"I'll be listed as an S class missing-nin. So will you most likely. Sucks to be us- we probably deserve a C rank at most, but any hunter-nin who grab us will get payment for 2 S-class heads, at minimal risk to themselves. Within the week, we'll be the most wanted ninja in the elemental countries." _We are so freaking screwed._

"You didn't think we'd live either, did you Naruto?"

"No Hanabi, I did not. By the way, what the heck is up with that water drying jutsu? How can you know that and not have a jutsu to rinse us off? The showers were in the original plan, yes but it would have been nice we could have avoided that risk."

Hanabi gave him a look expressing just how stupid she thought he was being at the moment.

"When facing an opponent with a known doujutsu, the natural reaction of a ninja is to neutralize the advantage. This can be accomplished using tear gas, explosive tags or other methods that cause the eyes strain or distress. One of the most popular is this jutsu- it basically dries out the air from a distance cause irritation of the eyes. When used at close range you can dry someone's clothes or give them a nasty case of eczema- there's no way anyone would hold their eyes open long enough for actual damage to occur."

Naruto just nodded, not really paying any attention, and speaking his mind on what was still bothering.

"Even if we do evade the hunters, a certain Uchiha will be sure to come looking for Konoha's latest clan slayers, if only to taunt his brother. I was a genin on his brothers team for crying out loud. And we can't even think of going into a village with your eyes the way they are! Cloud will probably pay more for you than Konoha!"

"Naruto! Shut up and calm down! I'm the girl here, I'm the one who's supposed to panic!" _Stop being such a wimp!_

"I think it's a bloody good time for both of us to panic!" _It's about the best time we'll ever have actually._

"We're in the forest probably 30 miles from the nearest human and you think now's a good time to panic!"

Naruto looked at her pointedly. _Seriously Hanabi, I'm the slow one here._

Hanabi obviously understood, but decided the best reply involved attempting to burn through Naruto's skull with her eyes.

"Aren't you the little firecracker?" Naruto smirked.

Hanabi growled and raised a chakra laced hand in warning.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Sheesh. My point was that these next few hours will be the last time we can afford to make major mistakes."

"We can't even afford to consider it now, teme. We need a plan instead of dwelling on how &%#ed we are."

"Simple. We have to learn, and attempt to restrict our fights to those with opponents close to our level."

"Simple! How are we supposed to do that!? Pose as a couple of Bloody Mist academy students!?"

Naruto paused and considered it. Hanabi looked at him like he was crazy, which he probably was for doing this with her.

"It's a possibility, but we would have to find a couple that looked like us, kill them and take their place without anyone noticing. I don't know about you, but I've had my fill of killing in cold blood for a while."

The Sandaime Hokage groaned. Another day of tedious paperwork lay ahead of him. Before he entered his office, he noticed something was wrong—he smelled blood. Concealing a handful of senbon, he entered the room nonchalantly.

In an instant he turned around and flung the senbon, pinning a Naruto clone to the wall by his clothing.

"Dammit Naruto, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

Naruto just looked at him with sorrow in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Old Man. I always wished you really were my grandfather. I understand now why I was able to get an apartment, but I won't be able to use it anymore."

The shadow clone pulled out well worn Hitai-ate before he continued.

"I cared about Hinata-chan, but I did it for Konoha. Please keep this for me Old Man," he said while handing him the Hitai-ate.

The Sandaime's sharp mind instantly worked out what had likely happened. He felt tears welling up in his old eyes as he spoke. _It's bad enough for anyone to make such a decision, let alone someone of Naruto's age._

"I take it from the look on your face that not everything went as planned. I love you like a grandson Naruto. You may never become Hokage, but you love the village just as much as your father, the Yondaime did."

Suddenly, the Hokage looked sharply towards the door.

"We only have a few seconds left. I am proud of you and your sacrifices, including this one Naruto. Go."

The clone ran up to the Hokage, hugged him for the last time, and dispelled.

A knock sounded on the door.

"Come in."

In walked Neji Hyuuga.

* * *

"The Kage Bunshin I've sent out to randomly drag our old clothes around should be enough to keep nin-dogs and the Inuzaka off our trail for now. Let's sleep here until the sun goes down, and then keep heading towards hidden mist."

"Fine. Just don't think you're going to be giving the orders for the rest of our lives, however short they may be."

"Hey! I like Sakura!"

"Whatever. Even if you ever really did, it doesn't matter anymore. We're missing-nin! I may not have been a genin like you but I still didn't get permission from the Hokage to leave the academy program. If we split up, we're alone in the world. And you're all I have left of Hinata-chan. I never was terribly close to her, but she was my sister. We used to sleep in the same room until I decided I was too grown up for that…"

Hanabi trailed off, staring into the distance at something only she could see.

"Do you think we'll make it through the week Naruto?"

Naruto sighed, and laid back against a tree trunk.

"I sure hope so Hanabi." _I don't really want to think about this._

"Baka! Do you think we will make it through the week?" _Is it too much to ask for a little reassurance?_

"Yosh! We will survive the week or I will do a thousand pushups from my grave!"

Both of them broke out in laughter.

"Seriously Hanabi, neither of us is in a very sane state of mind right now, so let's get some sleep."

"One of us needs to stand watch, dobe. Don't try to pull that chauvinistic %$#!, we'll flip for it. Heads or tails?"

"Tails."

The coin soared through the air, bounced off a tree and onto Naruto's head before finally landing.

Naruto scowled at Hanabi.

"Nice moves there, firecracker."

"It's heads, fishcake, so go to sleep already."

Naruto looked almost ready to argue, but shrugged and closed his eyes. Just before he went to sleep, the memories of the Konoha clone reached him. _Hm, son of the Yondaime._

_

* * *

_

A giant nine-tailed fox leered down at him from within a giant cage.

"Hello mortal. I approve of your slaughter of your fellow hairless apes. If you continue to please me, I will reward you."

Naruto tried to speak, but found he couldn't.

"You talk too much anyway. Leave now. And don't die."

* * *

Naruto didn't sleep very well at all.

AN:

Hope you enjoyed it! Naruto hit it right on the money. Neither he nor Hanabi are completely mentally functional at the moment, but really, for their age and circumstances they're doing a pretty good job. And yeah, Hanabi can't make up her mind whether she wants to be treated like a lady or not, so she wants both. Naruto's just being kind of panicky and whiny. Hopefully they'll calm down a bit next chapter. They're probably going to pick up some odd quirks to deal with the stress eventually.

In case you missed the notice at the top, Chapters 1 and 2 have been revised.

Please Review!

Adios.


	4. Into the Moonlight

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I never will (probably).

A Sunny Place No Longer

Into the Moonlight

* * *

By mid afternoon, all of Konoha was in an uproar.

Sarutobi knew he had to act fast before a full coup d'etat could be organized. With a few words of direction, ANBU swept through the villages posting notices that the Hokage would be speaking to the citizens of Konoha about the incident.

The Hokage looked at the picture of Naruto playing ninja with Konohamaru, which flashed as yet another lightning bolt streaked through the sky.

His robe swept out behind him as he walked out to the center of the courtyard. The rain poured down from the heavens like a river, but this by no means had any effect on attendance.

Angry murmurs sounded throughout the crowd as they saw Naruto Uzumaki's biggest supporter in the village arrive.

One particularly foolish man shouted out above the crowd and the storm.

"It's the demon's friend! He's been a traitor to the village ever since the Yondaime died. Kill that tra-"

The man slumped to the ground, a kunai between his eyes. Blood mixed with the water droplets on his face, streamed down and swirled in the puddle he had landed in. The crowd went instantly silent, leaving only the roar of the storm as competition for the Hokage.

The Hokage stood there, water streaming off his body, both hands full of kunai with explosive tags attached.

"Traitor, he was going to say. I am a kind and benevolent Hokage—I grant reasonable last requests, even from traitors like him."

He paused and glared at the crowd around him, as if wishing the water pelting at their bodies would turn into senbon and impale them all. In a flash, the kunai were returned to their hiding places in his robe. Thunder echoed ominously.

A kunai thrown by a bandaged man was snatched out of the air as Sarutobi whipped around and sent it and a senbon through the man's shoulders, pinning him to the nearest building.

"Ah, Danzo. Sometimes I wonder if I was wrong and you were right, especially in light of today. By the way, the flurry of information exchange this morning allowed me to 'root' out your co-conspirators. ANBU, kill him and his supporters."

Several blurs whipped through the air as the genjutsu covered warriors made short work of the remaining forces of ROOT. Surrounded by bloody water and numerous bodies, the remaining crowd shivered.

"Clearly giving Konoha the most freedom in the elemental countries has been a mistake that has cost us dearly. Uzumaki Naruto could have been Konoha's greatest weapon, a sword and shield to defend us against all who would do us harm. I even allowed the attacks on him to go relatively unpunished, so that I could continue to lead a free Konoha, rather than one enslaved by my dictatorial will."

Sarutobi sighed and shook his head, every year of his age showing on his face.

"Once again, in the memory of the Yondaime and what his son Naruto Uzumaki should have been, I will rule the village just as I have before."

He glared again at the crowd, the killer intent causing some of the weaker ones to pass out.

"It was your hate that turned the boy that I loved as grandson into a monster and dragged another into madness with him. Well, congratulations! You're right to hate him now. I, the Sandaime, hereby declare Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hanabi S-class missing-nin."

He then clenched his fists, shook some water from his cloak and stormed back towards the Hokage tower. _Naruto, if only I could take this burden from your shoulders, I would._

The storm still raged on.

* * *

The Uzukage paced in her private office. This news was troubling. Her plans for Konoha would have to be modified. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and smirked.

"I'm coming for you, sonny-boy."

* * *

Orochimaru chuckled with glee. With a small amount of effort, he could secure two excellent test subjects.

A distant scream made his wicked smile even larger.

* * *

Itachi strode up to his partner, Kisame.

"We are leaving now. We will be able to capture a jinchuriki while I get to meet another clan-killer. I will kill her to prove that I am still superior."

With that, Itachi turned around and walked quickly out the door, cloak billowing out behind him as he snatched his hat from its peg.

"Dammit Itachi! Wait for me! I need to get my cloak on too!"

* * *

Jiraiya was hiding in a tree above a kunoichi only hot-spring in snow country when another beauty ran in to inform the others of some kind of news. Jiraiya crept closer.

"… all of the Hyuuga clan dead, except for their clan traitor Hanabi. That's 2 new S-class Konoha missing-nin for the bingo book—an academy student and a genin called Naruto Uzumaki of all things-"

At this point, Jiraiya fell from his perch and into the waters of the hot spring, where he was quickly surrounded by angry kunoichi. After a fierce beating, he was able to escape. _This is not good._

As Jiraiya picked up his backpack and tent from the stash underneath the lone oak tree in the forest, he wracked his brain for inspiration on what to do.

"Argh!" He growled, making a decision.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A large toad appeared underneath him.

"The Gallant Jiraiya is returning to Konoha!"

* * *

Tsunade sat in the treetops with Shizune and Tonton. The pig was not very happy, as pigs do not dwell in trees and have never had any desire to do so.

"It's not just the position of Hokage that's cursed, it must be all of Konoha! Two clans dead in the span of a decade!"

* * *

"Raikage-sama, we have confirmed that there is now a female Hyuuga missing-nin. Shall I send out the retrieval teams?"

"No, Ryo. We have no need for such a bloodline despite my predecessor's wishes. We have more important things to take care of here at home. Besides, do you realize how many hunter-nin will be after those children? We'd be lucky to get a blood spatter."

* * *

The Tsuchikage scowled at her underlings.

"Do you really believe that the Yellow Flash of Konoha, even as powerful as he was could have killed the nine-tailed fox? Rubbish- as we well know, sealing is the only method to deal with spiritual beasts. Our merchants have reported seeing a boy who looked like him with whisker marks on his cheeks. The Hokage has claimed him to be the Yondaime's son, but I have my doubts."

"You think that the boy is the Yondaime!?"

"I'm not positive, but his personality seems similar from the descriptions I've heard. Seals are finicky things- he may have tried to sacrifice years off of his life, only to have it go slightly differently than he intended. Either way, I don't want to chance another Yellow Flash decimating our population. He slaughtered half of our forces by himself—can you imagine what he could have done if he had the power of the Kyuubi? If they come here, we treat them with the utmost respect and pray to Kami that they decide to leave quickly."

She eyed them all again.

"See to it."

* * *

A sopping wet Konohamaru sobbed in his grandfather's arms, while Udon and Moegi shuffled in the background in only slightly better shape, and just as wet. _I've broken one grandson for Konoha, I won't break another._

"What I tell you three cannot ever be repeated to anyone else…" began the Sandaime.

Sarutobi told the three young children the horrible tale of how two loyal Konoha ninja became missing-nin.

Konohamaru had stopped crying, and looked accusingly at the Hokage.

"Why couldn't you just tell everyone the truth!"

"Konohamaru, most of the people of Konoha hate Naruto because he was used to save Konoha from the demon fox Kyuubi."

"Why would they hate him for that? That would make him a hero!"

"If only people saw it like you, Konohamaru. The Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed away in Naruto by the fourth Hokage to save the village. Because of that, most think that he is the fox itself in human form. If someone told you that the Kyuubi came to the village to help Konoha would you believe them? Of course not! But Naruto is not the Kyuubi, he is jinchuriki, a living sacrifice to keep the demon sealed. Hiashi himself killed all the branch members, which makes it look even worse for Naruto and Hanabi."

"I wish he had taken me with him," Konohamaru whispered. "I would have helped."

The Hokage felt his eyes begin to water as he looked on his grandson. _He's telling the truth. He would have bloodied his hands for Naruto, and for Konoha._

"Konohamaru, Naruto didn't take you because you wouldn't have been ready. I must confess, I myself am afraid that he and Hanabi will be captured by hunter-nin despite his skill at evasion and her bloodline."

The three young academy students looked terrified at the thought, so the Sandaime hastened to reassure them.

"I am sure that they will be fine. Old men like me worry too much."

Udon and Moegi looked at each other, and Udon spoke up.

"It's a simple matter of mathematics. The village is a lesser place without Naruto. We will have to become great ninja to take up the slack."

"Hai!" Moegi agreed, her face set in determination.

Konohamaru straightened up.

"Udon, Moegi and I will be Konoha's three greatest ninja! Old man, I am going to be Hokage one day since Naruto cannot! And when I'm Hokage, he'll be able to come home!"

"I sincerely hope so, grandson."

* * *

"Wake up sleepy-head!"

Naruto groaned in response.

"It's still dark, Sakura. Kakashi's never there on time anyway," he mumbled.

CRACK! A loud slap echoed through the air.

"Baka! Wake up!"

"Urgh, I'm up Hanabi, I'm up! Wait a second, it's dark! Why didn't you wake me?"

It was indeed night-time. The sky was lit up with millions of stars, and the moon sent a cool light over everything around them.

Hanabi glowered at him, dark circles around her eyes emphasized by their white color.

"You have the most stamina of the two of us. I can sleep while you carry me. As for where we should go, I've got that covered. Tensions between Konoha and Iwa are still high after the last war, and you greatly resemble the Yondaime, who killed most of their ninjas during the war—it'll be hard for anyone to just come in after us, and assuming we can get in ourselves without being killed."

Naruto nodded as he looked at her eyes. The moonlight glinted off them, leaving them gleaming like twin full moons in the darkness. _She may sound bossy, but there is kindness in her eyes._

Naruto picked her up, and began running northward.

Hanabi was surprised at how smoothly he ran. She really hadn't expected to be able to get any sleep, but now it looked like she would. She looked up and stared at the moon for the first time in a long time.

"Hinata-chan and I used to hide out in the gardens at night. We would gaze at the moon for hours. She told me a story once, and it used to be my favorite one."

Never pausing in his run, Naruto glanced up at her. Hanabi took this as a sign to continue.

"Once a long, long time ago there was a boy. He loved staring at the night sky, but he loved the moon most of all. Every night he would go out to stare at the sky in his secret spot where it seemed like you could reach out and touch the heavens. When the moon was not there, he always felt sad, but he still he watched the skies. One night when the moon was not in the heavens, he heard a noise nearby.

'Who's there?' he asked.

A giggle sounded from the bushes, and he found a beautiful girl in a silvery dress sitting on a rock next to a small pond. She smiled at him as she traced circles in the water with her toes, and then started watching the sky. He sat down on another rock near the first, and stared up into the black above.

She wasn't there the next night, and he was saddened. But the moon was there, so he took solace in its beauty, pretending it was looking back at him.

The next time the moon was gone, the girl was back. This time the boy caught a glimpse of her eyes—they were white, like the moonlight. He felt himself falling for the girl, and soon she fell in love with him as well.

She never said anything about it, but he knew enough about spirits and the supernatural to know that in some way she was the moon. Eventually she gave him a beautiful baby boy, and told him that it was the last time they could be together. They held each other under the stars, and eventually they parted.

His son had his mother's eyes, and the father took on the last name Hyuuga, because the rocks that they sat upon faced toward the sunrise."

With the story over, Hanabi rested her head on Naruto's shoulder, and began to drift off to sleep.

Naruto ran on, thoughts of Hinata, the moon and the girl on his back coursing through his head.

Softly he began to sing, words and notes coming unbidden to him like some long forgotten memory.

"Off we go, into the moonlit night,

Further, further and further on,

We dare not stop ere we are caught,

Into the moonlight."

AN:

Well, I'm cutting it off here for now. Hope you enjoyed it!

Where's Neji? You'll see! Please review!

Adios.

~earthrise


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